Once Upon a Time

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert will be a quick review for me, mostly because I am feeling extremely time crunched lately!

Alice always dreamed of meeting her famous grandmother, Althea Prosperine, who is the author of a rare book titled Tales from the Hinterland. Alice has never personally read the book. In fact, it seems that her mother is determined that Alice have nothing to do with her grandmother or her book. Alice and her mother Ella constantly move as if trying to escape something. This “something” finally catches up with them when Alice discovers her mother is missing. Alice ventures to find her grandmother’s estate in hopes of finding her mother. In doing so, she enters a fairy tale realm where she learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined.

I enjoyed a lot about this story, including the writing and discovering who Alice really is. The fairy tale element slowed me down quite a bit though, as it’s not my preferred type of story. My daughter highly recommended the book to me, so there is definitely an audience out there!

Troubled Lives

Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham shares the parallel points of view of Cyrus, a psychologist, and Evie/”Angel Face,” a troubled teen.

Cyrus provides his medical insight to friend and police detective Lenny in the murder case of a teen-aged girl named Jodie. Meanwhile, he is involved in the rehabilitative efforts of Evie. It turns out that as a child, Evie was rescued from a hidden room after the brutal murder of her abductor. There is no knowledge of her true identity, family or age and she has never revealed her story to anyone. Ever since being rescued, she has lived in failed foster care situations, until ending up in a secure group home for other troubled teens.

Cyrus goes out on a limb by offering to provide foster care to Edie. This living situation creates its own set of conflicts. Meanwhile, the murder investigation is ramping up. One “sure” suspect is taken in while signs point to there being another person involved in Jodie’s death. The investigation reveals that Jodie had a secret life. Evie crosses paths with this secret life, which is how everything ultimately comes to a head, and the answers to Jodie’s death are finally revealed.

This is a great read, which slowly but satisfyingly releases tidbits of information to keep you guessing until the very end.

New Family

Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt is my fifth Nutmeg read (halfway there)!

I really enjoyed this one! Nicki’s mom abandoned her as a baby, her dad was in jail, and her grammy passed away. These events led to her being in numerous foster families, and honed her skills as a kleptomaniac and an overall tough cookie.

U.S. Marshals choose her to be part of a special project to hide witnesses. The family she is asked to join is on the run from a notorious mob family- the Cercatores. The mom, “Harriet,” was a key witness against her brother’s countless murders. Now her family (husband “Jonathan” and son “Jackson”) must relocate after receiving special training to help them assimilate. They become the Trevor family along with their new daughter, Nicki/”Charlotte.”

Charlotte is a pretty amazing character. Cool enough to take on the challenge of fitting in while not becoming too popular, maintaining a B- average and managing an extremely bitter, angry new brother. Things seem to be going pretty well, until they find out that Harriet’s brother has been acquitted on a technicality. They know they are being hunted, and with social media errors, it’s only a matter of time before they are found.

This story really appealed to me! It has a great pace, likable characters and realistic events that kept me entertained until the very end!

A Foxy Fiend

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken is my fourth (of ten) Intermediate Nutmeg Nominee reads. Needless to say, I need to get going on these!

The story follows Prosper and the fiend/demon Alastor who lives in him, and is slowly gaining control of him. Long ago, Prosper’s family made a contract with Alastor to ensure their own success. Years later, the contract was broken and Alastor is looking for revenge. He is on the brink of getting such revenge as Prosper’s thirteenth birthday draws closer.

Prosper is taken by an uncle and cousin who appear invested in helping him properly rid himself of Alastor without losing his own life. His cousin, Cornelia, is an aspiring witch. She puts a glamour spell on Prosper so that he can attend school with her as a means of protection. This is a new start for Prosper, who is used to not fitting in at school.

Meanwhile, Alastor is working to find out which member of his own family betrayed him. In the end, there are not too many trustworthy characters.

This story will appeal to kids who love tales of other worlds, creatures, witchcraft and adventure. I enjoyed the book, but was bummed that I will have to read Book 2 to find out what happens next.

Secrets

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware takes us into Rowan’s jail cell. She is a young woman accused of murdering a girl in her care, and the case against her looks pretty solid. Her story is told in the form of a letter appealing her case to a prominent lawyer. She feels that she must tell her entire story, including all the details leading up to the young girl’s death, in order for him to have a clear picture of her innocence.

The job as a nanny for affluent Sandra and Bill Elincourt’s four daughters seems too good to be true. She will be paid handsomely and be able to live at historic Heatherbrae House. Rowan is filling in after a long line of nannies who have abruptly left the position, so she must commit to starting quickly and staying for at least a year.

Sandra and Bill leave her on her own with the girls almost immediately for work travel. This is when things start going wrong. The combination of the girls’ poor behaviors on top of nightly creepy noises and odd occurrences around the house have Rowan completely on edge. The only person she has to turn to is the handsome caretaker Jack, and even then she is not sure if he is completely trustworthy.

Rowan finds out that there is a tragic past to the house which seems to have affected the girls. As more comes to light, she is confronted by the eldest Elincourt daughter who knows that Rowan is lying about something.

This story is full of secrets, creepiness and lots of twists and turns, especially toward the end, which is when several surprising truths are finally revealed.

A Family Education

Educated by Tara Westover is a riveting memoir that stresses the power of family dynamics in conflict with internal motivation to succeed.

Tara is the youngest of a large sibling group. Her parents are strict Mormons while her dad also displays signs of mental illness, perhaps bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. He is against public education, medicine and government and is constantly prepping for an apocalypse. Tara and her siblings are “home schooled” amidst their dad’s erratic and reckless behaviors. Usually, home schooling is trumped by their work breaking down scrap in the dad’s junkyard.

Once Tara is a bit older, she becomes the ongoing subject of both physical and mental abuse from one of her brothers. Throughout her young life, it is almost impossible to imagine the injuries that various family members endure, all without proper medical treatment. Most notable are multiple instances of traumatic head injury and two serious burns. Tara’s mom uses homeopathic remedies to treat her family, eventually growing a profitable business from her treatments. Tara’s mom is an interesting character, at first seeming quietly indifferent to her husband’s rants to eventually supporting them.

Somehow, Tara and a couple of her brothers manage to escape the family hold, but for Tara it is at the price of most of her family. Tara puts herself through college. Her brilliance captures the attention of her professors which permits her exceptional opportunities to further her education, resulting in a doctorate from Harvard. Tara’s inner drive is remarkable, despite the powerful voices from her upbringing which almost hold her back.

This is a story of resilience, determination and finding oneself. It is also a story of the intense inner workings of family that may be impossible for outsiders to understand.

What Happened to Jane?

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn describes the life of Anna Fox, child psychologist turned recluse. Anna has gone through a traumatic incident, leading to separation from her husband Ed and daughter Livvy. She has been agoraphobic the past ten months. Her days mostly consist of online chess, an agoraphobic support group, old movies, lots of wine, and watching the neighbors. I wish that I was more familiar with the old movies referenced during the story, because I’m sure I missed important connections along the way.

Anyway, Anna has been able to watch and photograph her neighbors without notice until the Russells move in. Jane, Alistair and their teenage son Ethan provide a new interest for Anna, especially once she happens to meet Ethan and bond with “Jane.” Shortly after their meeting, she witnesses Jane stabbed and bloody in the Russell home. When Anna attempts to get help, all blame turns back on her. It seems that Jane is perfectly fine and everyone believes Anna to be crazy and hallucinogenic due to her heavy use of medications combined with alcohol. Yet Anna can’t shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong. She attempts to figure out what really happened while in and out of a prescription/alcohol-induced daze.

Important truths are revealed along the way (why she became agoraphobic), and the author keeps the reader guessing as to what (if anything) really happened to Jane. Just when I found myself getting a bit frustrated with Anna, the story twisted again to reveal the true villain. In doing so, Anna proves herself to be stronger than she ever believed.

I read that this book may become a movie; it certainly has potential to be a great one.

Time for Change

I can check off another title from this year’s Nutmeg nominee list after finishing Unbound by Ann E. Burg.

Grace is required to leave her family’s slave quarters in order to live in the Big House as a servant to Master Allen and his Missus. Grace befriends the other slaves in the house, while witnessing the terrible treatment they endure. The Missus seems to look for any reason to inflict bodily harm to her servants. Grace doesn’t want to draw attention to herself, but she can’t help her reactions to injustice.

Grace overhears the Missus telling Master Allen to bring Grace’s mom and brothers to the auction block. At this point, Grace realizes that escaping with her family is worth any risk rather than losing them forever. With bravery and determination, Grace and her family (mother, two brothers, “uncle’ and aunt) are guided into an escape route that brings them through forest and swamp. They meet others along the way, all with their own stories of poor treatment, loss and escape to share.

I would recommend that students read the Author’s Note and Acknowledgements before the book to understand its historic significance. Unbound is written in verse, making for a quick and powerful read.

Getting Well

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty is about nine people experiencing different degrees of need for escape/recovery. This is what brings them all to Tranquillum House for a ten-day retreat.

Frances is the character we follow most. She is a romance novelist seemingly at the end of her career. Her latest novel has been declined and she is reeling from a nasty review. Tony is the ex-football player who has been “moping” through life since his sports injury. Napoleon, his wife Heather and their daughter Zoe are still mourning their son/brother’s death. Jessica and Ben are recent Lottery winners facing marital issues. Carmel, mother to four daughters, was divorced due to her husband’s affair. Lars is a devastatingly handsome lawyer/retreat junkie. He is there in part to escape his husband’s wish to have a baby.

Masha is the owner of Tranquillum, with her own issues and back story too. In her quest to create the perfect rejuvenating, self-help retreat she pushes the boundaries a bit too far. The retreat begins with days of silence, no speaking or eye contact allowed. During this time, guests have been enjoying daily drugged smoothies. It all comes to a climax when they are given LSD as a means of promoting therapy, followed by fasting while locked into a room together.

This is a great read to escape; I found myself really drawn into the guests as they were developed through the book. I saw a little of myself in many of them. The book concludes with quick snippets of each character’s future. Read to find out if Masha’s therapy helped the guests or not; is she a maniac or a genius?

The Perfect Robot

Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger proves that even robots can be good or bad.

Vanguard Middle School has been selected for a Robot Integration Program, and Max is extremely excited to be selected as the robot Fuzzy’s guide. Vanguard is no stranger to robots as the vice principal, Barbara, is also an all-seeing and all-hearing robot.

This school is all about perfect data. Students must constantly improve their scores as well as demonstrate impeccable behavior or they face being sent to an undesirable school. Barbara is watching every moment and assigns discipline tags the moment anyone steps out of line. It seems Max and her friends are always on the receiving end of these discipline tags. Tensions are running tight for Max at home, and she wants to prove that she is a good student. As a robot who can make decisions for himself, Fuzzy decides his primary mission is to help Max. Meanwhile, there are people out to steal Fuzzy for a huge profit.

Max and her friends must face Barbara’s true motives and discover the real reason that a robot is being trained in their school. I think readers who enjoy the movie “Big Hero 6” and technology/coding will appreciate this book. This is also one of the 2020 Nutmeg nominees (the third I’ve read so far).